Criticism
(197)

With the best manufacturer support selected, we now turn to the worse.
The two key issues integrators raised were:
Screwing up / delaying replacements
Long time / effort to speak with someone knowledgeable

Companies tend to put their head in the sand when criticized, hoping it will go away and bitterly bemoaning that anyone would actually speak their mind.
Now, contrary to this, Pelco has delivered a powerful example of professionally responding an...

Industry experts? It's a marketing scam.
Trade mags, SIA and manufacturers all love to tout their 'industry experts'. That and their equally demented twin, 'thought leaders'.
Unfortunately, there is almost no expertise nor thought involved. When...

Given Arecont's horrendous reputation for quality and reliability, you would think they would make it easy to troubleshoot their cameras. Well, you would be wrong.
There's a number of fundamental problems, but it does not get any more basic than ...

Samsung wants you to know that their plastic domes are fragile. We are here to help.
In a recent promotion, Samsung shared [link no longer available] tests to "verify to customers that our internal domes with plastic housings could continue to op...

Many complain about local governments picking cheap surveillance solutions. Well, it does not get any cheaper than this. Used iPhones, iPods and iPads watch over the halls and entry points of Arizona's Miami School District. The devices have been ...

The last few weeks have been an embarrassment for surveillance, with a small number of companies turning this into a despicable marketing campaign perpetuating lies and crazy myths about what surveillance did or could do.
To be clear, almost all ...

This year's ISC West witnessed a dramatic increase in tweeting about the show, though overwhelmingly from manufacturers and PR people. To track tweets, one can search Twitter for tweets with the hashtag for the show (#ISCW13). Unfortunately, one c...

BRS Labs is wasting no time responding to today's Texas Tragedy. Their PR agency is imploring 'security industry journalists' to understand how BRS technology might prevent or lessen this type of attack.
And though they admit that their technolog...

A major tradeshow is coming up and, with that, marketing gimmicks abound. Some are goofy, but others raise serious concerns about creating an offensive and hostile environment.
One surveillance manufacturer, Dotworkz, is promoting its event with...

Anixter declares, "The biggest business driver is that an IP based solution is less expensive than an analog solution." Not only is this factually wrong, it is terrible advice that would hurt both buyers and sellers of IP systems. Alas, this is ce...

Finally, a security trade magazine is taking a bold stand! Unfortunately, it is in favor of felicide, justified by austerity.
UK firefighters saved the life of a stray kitten that got stuck inside a car in the freezing cold. While a local newspap...

Anixter has been touting 5 Advantages of IP Video Surveillance [link no longer available]. Unfortunately, those benefits center around dubious cabling / networking propositions. In this note, we examine each of the advantages, providing commentary...

This may be the future of manufacturer marketing. Each day, the once dominant manufacturer marketing machine is further drowned out by the rise of the Internet. PR hacks continue to send out boring press releases, hoping that more than a few frien...

Who says there is no money to be made in physical security? Evidently, they do not know the executives at non-profit security organization ASIS. Many were shocked by our investigation last year that found their average executive's 2010 total compe...

Desperate, shady PSIM marketing tactics continue. Last month, $50 million of diamonds were stolen from the Brussels airport. Now, a PSIM marketing manager tries to capitalize on that to sell his products. Unfortunately, their case for PSIM is incr...

How excited would you be spending an hour listening to a sales guy with only a few months at a company talk about technology he has no previous experience in? That sounds pretty bad. For most mortal marketers, this would pose a big problem but not...

Over the years, we have seen many clueless marketing people and their wacky ideas - replacing 95 cameras at once, averting school shootings, delivering 3270% benefits, etc. While exceptions exist, they typically have little idea what they are prom...

Security sales people often find it hard to resist seizing on headlines to spur equipment sales. Nothing motivates budget conscious end users to increase their spending like combining scare tactics and magical solutions. To that end, a US integrat...

Just when you think awards couldn't get any stupider, a US trade magazine, GSN, steps up the plate with the most dumbfounding video surveillance awards we have ever seen.
While magazine/show awards typically lack a clear and fair awards process,...

Last week, we reported Arecont lied in a recent ad. Now, Arecont is threatening legal action against IPVM. In this note, we explain how Arecont lied, how their objection ignores our core complaint and the US laws that cover false advertising.
[Fo...

File this under shocking not surprising in the least. A security blogger has caught Arecont in an obvious lie with their recent advertisement.
In the ad, they show an overview of a cafe. Within the overview are two circles - a larger one connecte...

Security behemoth ADT is struggling to make the transition to social media and a world where customers can freely and publicly say what they actually think about the company. In this note, we contrast ADT's approach to social media versus the mass...

The least respected award in all of surveillance - BRS Labs has now bought won it. When struggling manufacturers need a shot of fake authenticity, they get Frost &amp; Sullivan awards and now BRS Labs has theirs.
Bought Disrespected Awards
Not o...

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